How employers can use online recruitment to ensure equal opportunities

Online Recruitment Magazine Feature

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Online recruitment can really help employers get to grips with equal opportunities laws, as Charles Hipps, managing director of WCN Plc and Patrice Barbedette, founder of Jobpartners explain.

Patrice Barbedette, introduces the relatively recent changes in employment legislation ñ and explains how recruiters can ensure they stay on the right side of the law: ìOver the past 12 months, we have seen many new legislations come into force designed to ensure greater equality for employees in the workplace. Some of the most significant legislation includes the new Age Discrimination Act which was implemented in late 2006. This new law is one of the biggest pieces of employment legislation the UK has seen for a long time and represents a huge challenge for HR and recruitment professionals, who have to ensure that they do not refuse someone a job, promotion, training or benefits because of their age. Another major development in employment legislation is the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which has been gradually implemented over the past few years in the UK, and was finally completed in December 2006. In addition, the Equality Act came into force across the UK at the end of April this year. This protects people from discrimination at work on the grounds of sexual orientation and religion.

Increases in employment tribunals

These new regulations mean that HR departments and recruiters have their work cut out in order to ensure that they stay on the right side of the law. But some employers are struggling. A survey from the Employers Forum on Age suggests that more than one in 10 people have suffered from age discrimination at work since it was made unlawful. The number of employment tribunals has never been so high - employees are increasingly clued up on their rights and are not afraid to take action if they think they have been unfairly treated. The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2006 was implemented in February this year and raised the limit on the amount of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal from 58,400 to 60,600.

Employment tribunals are not just expensive ñ they also risk greatly damaging an organisationís reputation and employer brand. So what can employers do to ensure that recruiting decisions are always made solely on the basis of skills rather than age, religion or sex? Recruitment technology can play a key part here as it enables recruiters to make objective decisions rather than be swayed by personal opinion. For example, some e-recruitment technology enables recruiters to develop selection criteria so that they can search across a database of CVs for candidates who possess the right skills and have the right experience for the job, while at the same time ignoring details that may lead to discrimination such as name, sex, age, disabilities or religious beliefs (these details should in fact be removed from application forms altogether). This CV analysis then produces a ranking system which allows the recruiter to select a person for an interview based purely on his or her skills and experience. It is then down to humans to make the final decision on whether or not to interview and to hire an individual. This may of course require additional training to ensure those in charge of recruitment are not influenced by age, nationality, religion, sex, or ability. Some technology also offers a search auditing functionality which can be used, if necessary, to prove that recruiters did not discriminate. Record keeping such as this is now critical in the wake of the new legislation.î

Charles Hipps gives examples of why and how e-recruitment can be used: ìThere are growing economic, social and legal pressures for employers to improve their equal opportunities records and to ensure that they recruit a diverse population. Many employers are increasingly committed. Online recruitment is playing a major role in helping these employers address the continually evolving equal opportunities issues and directives.

There are four clearly defined ways in which employers are using e-recruitment to drive improvements in equal opportunities:

ï enhanced equal opportunities reporting;
ï supporting the dissemination of best practice recruitment throughout the organisation;
ï facilitating applications from disabled candidates
ï and tackling the recent age discrimination legislations and demographic changes.

E-recruitment technology has made reporting and management information easier to retrieve, more user-friendly and readily available. As a result, online recruitment provides full equal opportunities reporting available on demand. Employers are using it to examine specific population groups and to target these groups should a shortfall arise. Reports are highlighting the diversity mix of the applicant population and the ìadverse impactî of particular selection methodologies. This, in turn, is leading employers to review their advertising and the media in which they advertise and alter the way candidates are assessed or selected allowing employers to redress the balance within their organisations.

Different organisations monitor the effectiveness of their equal opportunities policy in different ways. In Northern Ireland, for example, to allow for anonymous equal opportunities monitoring via online recruitment, employers recruiting usually request information on ethnic origin, race relations, district council area and religious community background.

Additionally, employers are embedding good recruitment processes within their e-recruitment solutions to disseminate best practice throughout the organisation. Recruiters and line managers are able to raise vacancies using an archive of well-written (and non-discriminatory) job descriptions, select from a library of properly validated application forms, screening templates and tests, and are guided through good practice work-flows. This good practice framework is reinforced by up-to-the-minute reporting on adherence to and the continuing validity of these good practices. As a result, employers are improving impartiality, consistency and observance of good practice across their organisations.

Disabled candidates apply online

Online recruitment has also been used successfully by employers in facilitating the efficient running of Guaranteed Interview Schemes (GIS), the scheme whereby disabled candidates who meet the minimum qualifying criteria are guaranteed an interview. Candidates applying online are screened quickly and easily against adjusted cut-offs. Online recruitment has also successfully stopped candidates falsely claiming GIS eligibility, in one case reducing those claiming GIS eligibility from 25% to 3%*.

Employers are also using online recruitment to provide a highly accessible way for disabled candidates to apply for a job. They find out about jobs and apply to them from the comfort of their own homes. Increasingly, employers are designing these online recruitment processes to deliver the highest levels of accessibility. They are using Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) which are a set of recommendations from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), which explains to developers and authors how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities. Using these guidelines, employers create online application forms that can be read by a ìscreen readerî, a visibility tool for blind people. Candidates unable to apply online are informed immediately of the alternatives. However, statistics show (source: WCN plc) that most disabled candidates do apply online.

Age discrimination the last bastion of inequality

Age discrimination is the last bastion of inequality after sex, race, disability, gender reassignment, sexual orientation and religion or belief. With the recent legislation on age discrimination in October 2006, has come a social drive for change. With an aging workforce and a pension crisis, employers are being forced to reconsider employment policies on age. Online recruitment has played a crucial part in helping employers implement the Age Discrimination Act and review the age of their workforce.

Online reporting tools are providing employers with the information to take positive steps to rectify discrimination when recruiting. For example, they can obtain unspecified reports on the age profile of their applicant pool which helps them to make the relevant adjustments if necessary. Employers are also reviewing their recruitment processes and making online application forms reflect the changes required to address age discrimination. They are ensuring that their online selection criteria do not favour an age group and taking steps to make appropriate modifications if they do.

Some graduate schemes are being opened to people of all ages or employers are offering alternative entry points for non-graduates. To ensure no candidates are discouraged from applying on grounds of their age, all age limits are being removed by employers advertising jobs on- and offline. Those advertising on their own careers websites and on job boards are making sure that the images and language they use are not discriminatory. Employers are publicising their vacancies in ways most likely to attract people of a variety of ages and are looking at using all media to avoid discrimination.

By ensuring best practice e-recruitment is pervasive throughout the organisation and by improving reporting, consistency and accessibility, online recruitment is making a major contribution to improving employersí equal opportunities record.î

New legislation is an opportunity to embrace the benefits of diversity

Patrice Barbedette believes that with the right processes in place, the new legislation should not be feared but rather viewed as an opportunity to create an innovative, creative and productive workforce which brings together a mixture of not just talents but also race, culture, religion and age. He says: ìWith the threat of court cases, it is understandable that some organisations forget that the key objective of the new legislation is to protect employees from discrimination and increase diversity in the workplace. Companies that embrace diversity can benefit hugely from the mix of skills and qualities that different people can bring. Diversity has also become crucial in order to fill skill shortages.

It is clear that equality is no longer a choice but a necessity. Organisations who let prejudice influence their recruitment decisions risk missing out on hot talent, and recruiting a workforce which does not reflect the diversity of their customers, business requirements, or todayís modern society.î